Approved by the King
by NCR Ranger
Summary: Tani and Junior's budding romance isn't so secret anymore ( sequel to ' Drops become a Flood ' )


Humming a little to himself, Lou Grover strode into the main floor of the Task Force Palace HQ, on a cloudy Monday morning.

He was in good spirits; their latest case ( recovering paintings stolen by the Nazus during the Second World War ) had been fully wrapped up, the weather had taken a turn for the better ( as in, it had cooled somewhat, reminding him of Chicago's climate ), and perhaps best of all, he had a cup of still steaming homemade coffee in one hand.

Things were going well, so far.

' Hmmm, Hmmm mmm hmm '

' Wonder what kind of work will fall in our lap today ? Given this island's track record, that could be anything from _more_ stolen valubles, to _another_ nuclear bomb. We always get the dangerous ones '

He took a sip of the coffee, noting that dangerous had basically become the norn for him, as he turned the corner into the ops center,

And promptly came to halt.

Tani Rey and Junior Regins. They'd apperently gotten here first, which was fine, and wouldn't be surprising at all, except;

They were standing inside Tani's office, and they had their arms around each other ! They were _embracing_ , and there was no way that was _friendly_ !

' What's this ?! '

Caught off guard, he quickly stepped out of sight, back around the corner.

Personally, Grover wasn't enitrely sure what to do. This was definetely what could be called a ' workplace romance ', and those were generally not approved of. Yes, it did seem realatively harmless, but even so, this hadn't ever happened before.

' Aren't there rules against this ? '

He peeked out, cautiously. The two rookies were still embracing, though Tani now had her hands claspsed around the base of Junior's neck !

 _Yep. They're into each other. For sure. Oh, boy._

" What's up, Lou ? You're early today. At least _someone_ here is punctual ".

With only a brief jolt of surprise, Grover turned to find the sarcasam loving New Jersey native standing idly nearby, hands in pockets. Grover scolded himself for not hearing him approach.

' Either I need hearing aids already, or I was more distracted than I thought '

By way of response, he tipped his head toward Tani's office.

" Over there ", he told Danno, keeping his voice low.

Peering over where Grover had indicated, Danno took one look at what was unfolding, then quickly made sure he was also standing out of there sight line.

" That can't be allowed around here, can it ? More importantly, _when_ did this start ? "

With an annoyed frown, Grover shook his head . " Why're you asking me ? I just got here myself ? You ought to get in there and find out for yourself. I'd rather not get in the middle of that. "

As he expected, Danno's reply was a cross between his usual sarcasam, and bluntness. Which was how he looked at most things, actually.

" Well ", he stated, " I actually think _we_ should deal with this, ourselves. We're both senior to them. This is well within our purview ! Can't let something like this go. Otherwise, it'll just casue a whole lot of useless drama. "

" Danny, you just make anything worse with that Jersey-downer attitude, you know that ? ", Grover scoffed, shaking his head. " No wonder Steve and you argue about everything. Now it makes sense . "

" Oi ! Hey, no, no, Its not all me, you know ! You've met Steve. You can't blame me for that. "

It was a ( semi ) valid point, but Grover wasn't willing to admit it. Yet. After all, Danno could be irratating enough as it is, without giving him more ammunition.

" Maybe I can. In fact, I just might do that ".

Danno was just about to retort with something best not said in polite company, when they were interupted by the sound of boot soles clacking agasint the floor,

It heralded the arrival of thier boss.

Steve McGarrett marched up to them, also with a cup of steaming dark coffee in hand. He walked with his usual half serious, half nonchalant gait that Danno found quite irratating.

He came to a stop right where they stood, and raised an eyebrow. Two of his team standing in a corner, peeking around a corner, was certainly something that would get his attention.

" Hmm. What's this ? Some kind of secret cabal I don't know about ? ".

The other two glanced at him, clearly surprised. Steve just raised an eyebrow, wordlessly demanding an explanation.

" Oh, _we're_ not the ones keeping secrets, Steve " Danno spoke up. " But, _they_ are. "

He jerked a thumb around the corner, and Steve took the cue. He moved over to take a look.

About 1 second later, he was back.

" Steve, don't we have rules against coworkers getting involved ? You know, like anywhere else with integrity and decorum, etc ? "

Danno didn't wait for his boss to comment on what he'd just seen, much to the latter's annoyance. Grover tried not to smirk at the slightly annoyed expression on Steve's face.

" Danno, are you serious ? I may run this team-' Steve began to reprimand.

" With an iron fist ".

" - Shut it, Danno. Anyway, I may fun this team, but I can still let my subordinates be happy, even while on the job. I am just a nice boss ", insisted Steve, taking a swig of his drink.

" You're still right, of course, but-

" Subordinates ?! " , Danno grumbled. " That's it ? "

Grover now openly chuckled at Danno's blatant repetative interupption.

Steve was not as amused. " Watch it, Danno. I haven't finished my coffee. You won't like me until after I have. "

" With your natual dispotion, that's not much of an improvment-

" _Ahem_ ! "

The duo's malarkey exchange was cut short by Grover clearing his throat, getting thier attention.

" Boys, I think we should've taken this outside ", he muttered, gesturing toward the office.

Leaning back out, Steve and Danno saw what he was talking about.

Evidently, the sound of thier voices had been louder than they thought. The two rookies were now looking at them !

They still hadn't moved. In fact, they were still embracing ! But, now, Tani's gaze was directed sqaurely at them, over Junior's shoulder. The SEAL, meanwhile, had turned his head, and now also had spotted them.

They'd been made.

" Sorry. Looks like we're dealing with his now, rather than later ", Grover remarked.

" I blame Steve. ", Danno declared.

* * *

" I usually don't make assumptions, but I will today:

You've been going behind my back, haven't you ? "

Steve' adressment of the rookies was spoken in cross between being bemused, and genuinely annoyed.

After thier cover had been blown, the three 5-0 commanders had summoned the new kids over to them, then promptly herded them into Steve's office ( At his command, of course ). Now firmly under the lamp, so to speak, Tani's cheeks had turned a slight shade of pink, glancing off to one side, while Junior stood stiffly at attention, facing straight ahead.

Eyebrows raised, Steve crossed his arms, and swung his gaze slowly across them, obviously once again prompting a response without saying a word.

" I think, I _think_ , Steve, that they're speechless. " Danno observed. " _That's_ a first, for them. I only wish _you'd_ be speechless. Preferably often. "

" Quiet in the peanut gallery ". Steve turned back to the rookies.

" Well ? Anything to tell me ? "

The stalemate continued. Both of them still seemed rather tongue tied. They'd cleary not been prepared to be found out, and with Grover and Danno blocking the door out, there wasn't any other option but to answer thier boss's question.

In a testament to SEAL discipline, Junior got there first.

" On a scale of 1 to 10, how much trouble are we in, sir ? ", he inquired, still facing straight ahead, with Tani evidently deciding to emulate him. She even opted to stand at a respectable form of attention.

' _They're adorable_ ', Steve thought, supressing a smirk. ' _Reminds me of Cath and I, when we first met. Course, we never had anyone to ' walk in ' on us. We were always more careful than that._

' _Well, of course, I can't let them know that, just yet_ . _It won't befit me if I don't_ _handle this properly'._

Putting on his ' grave ' face, Steve put his chin between his thumb and finger, as he responded.

" Danno, what do you think I should do with them ? Inter team relationships ? We can't treat those lightly ".

Danno shrugged. " You're the boss. Your word is, as we all know, law around here. A _benevolent dictatorship_ , I believe you called it ".

Steve glared at him. Danno looked unruffled.

Grover took the oppritunity that had been so neatly presented to him to step in, and adressed the rookies, who'd been quietly been listening to the whole exchange.

" Allright, young-uns. " He turned to them, leaning on the center console, so as to make it clear it wasn't _really_ unhappy with them. " What seems to be going on here, near as I can tell, just some harmless office affection, right ? We're all adults here, after all ".

He hoped this would put them both at ease. This was 5-0; nobody on this team should feel cornered.

Tani finally found her voice.

" Yes, sir ! Absoletely, sir ! "

" Now, you sound like me ", Junior remarked.

He actually seemed to have relaxed, at least a little, becasue now, there was an actual smile on his face.

Flipping her hair sassily over one shoulder, Tani turned to look at him, also revealing that she was smiling. " You say that like its bad. Being more like you is actually good. You might be the only man here who combines common sense with boldness ".

She paused for a second. " Well, aside from you, Captain Grover. And Commander McGarrett ".

The Chicago man grinned in approval.

" _So_ , that makes _me_ a reckless lose cannon. " Danno grumbled. " Great. As if Steve wasn't enough ".

Not deigning to respond to that ( possibly becasue he knew he was ) Steve instead cleared his throat, and decided to settle this matter once and for all.

Or, try to, at least.

" Allright, quiet down, the lot of you. New, kids, pay attention ", he commanded, pitching his voice up.

The rookies did so, turning to face him. Grover and Danno looked even more bemused than before.

" Right, then. " Steve began. " You'reobviously, how shall I say, _involved_ , in some way. I don't know how serious this is, or how longs its been underway, but what I do care about, is your _discipline_ and _professionalisim_ while you're here at work. Still, if it has been under my nose all along, then I have nothing to worry about, if what you showed on our last few cases ".

He made a point to look each of them in the face " Do I ? "

Both rookies shook thier heads.

" Perfect " Steve nooded his approval. " I'll still need to watch you both carefully, of course, but for now, I'll keep my distance ".

The last trickles of tension finally left them.

" Understood, boss ", they replied, in unision.

At that, even Danny had couldn't help but smile.


End file.
